Morris tribune., 1887-11-30
WEDNESDAY. NOV. 80, 1887.


ants, in a lengthy editorial in last
Saturdays Pioneer Press, gloat over
the new field of plumber opened up
for them by the building of the Mani
toba road to Helena, Montana. Time
and space forbid our copying the
whole article, but here are few
quotations:
1--WE need not wonder at the spirit
with which the mountain land looked
upon the entrance of the locomotive
over the tracks of one OF the greatest
railway corporations in the country TO
them it meant competition, larger and
more abundant service, cheaper freight
rates, the opening up of undeveloped re,
sources, a new impetus to prosperity, all
that the railway has come to mean to
the INFERIOR coiimuni'ies VI "'' ~ y
'It would not have been inappropri-
ate had St. Paul matched the rejoiclngs
which made holiday in Helena. For,
much as the entrance of the Manitoba
and the Montana Central implies for the
people of that 1ourishing city, 1t has an
even greater significance for the people
of the commercial center of the new
Northwest. The imaginations of our
citizens have failed to grasp the full
meaning of an enterprise whose import
ance to themselves they have had no
data to estimate. The fact is that there
has been added a new empire, AZ fair as
any upon which the sun shines, to the
territory naturally tributary toi this
point. Lying out of the path of over
land travel, sheltered far to the north in
its secluded valleys, the country trav-
ersed by the new line of the Manitoba
road is yet comparatively terra lncog,
nita to all but the few who have looked
upon its fairness. They have heard
vague reports of the mildness of its
climate, the fertility of it's soil, its pro-
ductive capacities, and the possibilities
that lie before it. But the reality has
been understood only by those whose
enterprise has seen the commercial
necessity and the commercial advantage
of bridging this vast stretch with the
iron highway of commerce. Along the
whole of the immense line which pene-
trates from DEVILS Lake to Great Falls
there Is not mile of territory which is
incapable of practical utilization for til
lage or for grazing. Over the great
prairie, through the magnificent valley
of the Milk river; and on to the mount
aims, the traveller rolls through lands OF
richness unsurpassed. His eye rests not
upon the brown and dusty soil of an arid
cline, but on the soft green turf which
covers alluvium where unreaped har
vests and ungathered wealth lie in store
for the husbandman. He is in the zone
where the ink-black virgin soil promises
inexhaustible returns for tillage. He il
where the kindly isotherms that bend
upward insure him climate as mild a:
any in the Northwest. and more equablt
than most. He is in region where
moist winds d1still the frequent showers
that bless the agriculture of the mos
fortunate among our older communities
He travels through country which, Il
the eye, is in no way inferior to the Rec
river valley that has given fame ane
wealth to Minnesota and Dakota. IL
these immense stretches, whose virtues
the settler has already begun to appre
ciate, there is room for crowded popu
lation. In the valleys there are grazing
grounds for herds that would feed con
tinent. 1t is impossible to convey il
language that shall be free from tn
suspicion of exaggeration any idea O.
the resources of the new world nov
open to the OVERLOOKING populations o
older communities and Of older worlds
"To say nothing of the fourishinl
centers along the line, of the more acces
sible valleys where comfortable farm
houses and overlooking barns already
testify to the excellence of the land, ant
of the population which is flowing in in
steady streams, here is already the raw
material for hundreds of thousands Of
es5frunes. Here are the elements out Of
which the chemistry of human industry
brings the results That have astonishcC
the world. Here is a new empire fol
commerce. And in the trade which
these regions supply there is force thai
would alone suffice for the upbuilding o.
a mighty metropolis. This, and more
than the present of this new domain car
possibly indicate, is what the building
of the new line will bring to st. Paul
Over this vast country opened and dedi
divided sway. Its daily increasing in
tercourse with the world beyond will b.
carried on through the commercial cen
tiers already established. 1t will add it,
millions and tens of millions to on
trade
An so ON cd infnituna. More bra
zen falsehoods never were published
in what ought to be reliable news
paper. First every man woman an6
child knows the advent of the Mani
toba to any country previously occu
pied by the Northern Pacific does not
mean competition, cheaper freight
rates, etc, but that it does mean com
bination, maintenance of high rates
and a general charge of sail the traffic
will bear Next, there is no feunda
ton for the glowing accounts of the
fertility of the soil, mildness. OF
climate, untold mineral resources etc
except in the imagination of the
moneyed individuals who expect to
steal the hundreds of thousands OF
fortunes" which the in-fowing tide
of migrants will build up, but will
never be permitted to enjoy. Those
who are at the bottom of this article
can circulate it and many more which
will deceive ignorant immigrants and
get them into this new outlying
province. After leaving home and
friends, however, and becoming loca.
ted In this ''new empire" the unfor.
tunate settlers will just begin to learn
where the fun comes in and whose
the fortunes will be. They will dis
cover that only the meanest kind of a
living is for themselves and their
families, while the wealth is for
the money lender and the
railroad, those whosy slaves they
have become. Every person, rich
poor or otherwise, who is deluded in
to thinking that new paradise has
been discovered and who goes to oc.
cupy that portion of it traversed by
this new line of the Manitoba is en-
titled to sincerest sympathy. No
matter what his condition now, he
will in q very few yoara ha rnduced